The script for "Nudity Required," which plays Tuesday, June 10, at the Broadway Performance Hall as part of the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), began when Whitney submitted her husband's resume; for an erotic thriller.
"[Whitney] was acting as my agent and she submitted me to a Penthouse film," Steven said.
"As a joke ..." Whitney emphasized.
"Yeah, as a joke, because I won't even walk around the house with my shirt off," Steven agreed.
"He's so shy," Whitney said. "But he was complaining that he was doing all these bad TV parts and it wasn't challenging. So I submitted him for this thing. It wasn't hard-core pornography or anything, more like the 'Red Shoe Diaries.'"
Steven went to the audition and was cast as the villain - who keeps his shirt on. But the actor's relief was short-lived.
"Then they called and asked me to play the lead in their next film," Steven said.
Struggling with the embarrassment of being directed on how to fondle a woman's breasts,
as well as disrobing, Steven would go home at
the end of the day and share stories with Whitney.
"The whole thing was so unreal. Here's all these nude women walking around, and people discussing the Mets," he recalled.
Whitney enjoyed her own share of odd Hollywood moments, including a television part that required brief nudity.
"Nothing was actually shown, but I had my hands over my breasts and I had my 'robe person' who followed me around," she said.
Following the advice of actress Julie Harris, whom they met at a party, to create their own work, the Boes decided to draw from their experiences to craft a movie script that would give Whitney a good lead role and allow Steven to direct. And, despite eight years of living in Los Angeles, Calif., they decided to base their story in Bremerton.
"My family has been in Washington since the 1890s, but my mom moved down to Orange County, and I was born down there," Steven said. "I moved back here in the late 1980s and lived all over Seattle area. But my Dad moved to Bremerton when he bought a health club, and my brother and I moved over there to help him run it. We lived there about six months."
During that period, the brothers' love life suffered.
"For two young guys - he's the party guy and I'm the shy guy - it's not great," Steven said. "There's certain nights in Bremerton when you can't go out - when the fleet is in - because you can't compete with a guy who has been out at sea for nine months."
Steven moved back to Seattle and met Whitney while acting in a show. "I'd moved to New York for college but came back here for a break," said Whitney, who graduated from Auburn High School and planned on a Broadway career.
"Then I met Steven, and that just screwed up all of my plans, because he really didn't want to go to New York."
The pair compromised by moving to Los Angeles and continuing their acting careers in movies and television.
The story of "Nudity Required" involves two guys working at a Bremerton bowling alley who decide to make a movie. Shy guy Todd (Keith Andreen) has been dumped by his actress girlfriend. Party guy Oded (Robert Raad) is looking for a good time without much luck. Their best friend, Joey (played by Whitney under her stage name Whitney Leigh), tries to keep them practical about their dreams while dealing with her own love life.
When Oded discovers that people actually put the term "nudity required" in casting ads, he's ready
to make a movie just so he can scope out the ladies. Todd decides to join
him as a way to lure his out-of-work former fiance back to Bremerton.
Despite their complete inexperience, to their jaw-dropping embarrassment hundreds of women apply for the roles of "Hollywood Chicks." The total experience isn't that far from real life, added the Boes.
"I won't go on those [required nudity] auditions," Whitney said, "but a lot of women do, because they are desperate to break into films. Even for other stuff, the [casting directors]
want to see you in a bikini. Doesn't matter that you're playing a nun in the 17th century -- they want to see you
in bikini because they can!"
Exactly how much competition exists in Los Angeles became obvious when the Boes sent out their own casting call. More than 3,000 actors applied for the "deferred payment" roles (the actors will be paid if the movie ever makes any money).
Among the applicants were the Dahm Triplets, real-life Playmates whose credits included the 2003 Harley David-son Biker Babes Calendar. When the Boes received their application, they were sure that somebody had submitted it as a joke. "Their regular day rate is something like $20,000," Steven said.
Whitney called the agent and explained that this was a non-paying gig.
"I figured that the worst he could do was laugh at me," she said.
Instead, the triplets agreed to act without pay.
Because their financing came from the producers, Charlie Nguyen and Tawny Nguyen, the Boes did most of the work in Charlie Nguyen's L.A. facility and shot five days of exteriors in Bremerton. However, after their experiences at SIFF, they're ready to set another movie in the Northwest and work with a local cast and crew.
"The Spawned in Seattle event at SIFF was so great, because we got to meet local filmmakers," Steven said.
The huge turnout for the world premiere of "Nudity Required" at SIFF on May 25 came as something
of the surprise for the Boes, who
had expected mostly local friends and family. As Steven wandered the line stretching down the alley outside
the Egyptian, he realized he didn't
recognize any of the faces. During
the movie, he and Whitney clutched hands so hard during the first 10
minutes that they both decided they had to let go or suffer permanent
damage.
Even when Steven got up to address the crowd, he carried an empty Starbucks cup with him just to have something to hold.
"He wasn't that nervous at our wedding," Whitney said.
Despite the title, the Boes didn't act-ally write any nudity into their movie.
"Yeah, it's almost a bait-and-switch," Steven said.
The Boes were out to make a comedy, not an erotic thriller, and neither wanted the movie to become the thing that they were ridiculing.
"But I thought about putting a shot of my naked butt at the end," added the self-confessed shy guy, "just so some fu-ture video box could say 'brief nudity.'"
The Seattle International Film Festival continues through June 15 at several venues. "Nudity Required" plays for the last time Tuesday, June 10, at 7 p.m. in the Broadway Performance Hall.
Freelance writer Rosemary Jones is a Queen Anne resident who requires fresh popcorn as she heads into SIFF's third weekend.
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